do you leave your diary open?

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Replies

  • Embracing_Change
    Embracing_Change Posts: 5
    My diary is open... I've been hiding behind food long enough :wink:
  • ShrinkinMel
    ShrinkinMel Posts: 982 Member
    I usually leave it closed, it's not really out of embarrassment for the most part its just because I hear of friends getting creeps downing their eating. Its one thing if you ask for advice or criticism on it. I know what I need to eat and not its really not that complicated but its not always on par with what I know and want.

    I had it open for awhile because its now required for the posting to FB to happen. But since have closed it back because I decided I don't care if posts to FB right now. Maybe later I will reopen it.
  • ShrinkinMel
    ShrinkinMel Posts: 982 Member
    Mine is open to friends. No one has ever commented on it....I like getting ideas from other people, not judging them. I appreciate my friend's open diaries. If anyone was ever an a-hole about my food choices, they wouldn't be my friend for long!

    Yeah this somewhat. I'd do the same if someone was stalking mine or making rude comments. Open to friends is nice but I don't want my entire FB feed to be able to watch and see. I don't think anyone would look or care unless they also use MFP and most of them are friends on here too.
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member


    I do find it odd when someone people won't friend people unless they have an open diary. You can support people without knowing the minutiae of what they eat. To me saying you won't support someone unless you can see what they eat every day is like saying on a pregnancy forum that you won't support someone trying to conceive unless you can see their basal body temp every morning :ohwell: I get that some people have ED's and the like but I choose to give the benefit of the doubt.

    I find it odd too. In real life do we insist on that level of detail about someone's life if we're to be their friends? I honestly don't care what others eat. It's their journey. I'm here for me and if you (general you here) want to walk beside me in that journey, share some funny jokes, anecdotes and whatnot, great, but I don't need anyone to hold me accountable. However will I instill good habits and maintain the loss if I don't remain accountable to myself?
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    I leave mine open, and I am no cook, so it's a lot of Healthy Choice dinners, some junk food, some fast food, etc. I don't eliminate foods I like, but I have eliminated the word diet from my vocabulary. I do portion control to lose weight, and will maintain in the same manner.
  • JensRiot
    JensRiot Posts: 24 Member
    I prefer friends with open diaries. What is the point if we cannot share things.

    Me too. I've gotten some great food ideas from MFP friend's diaries. Mine is public. For me, I'm ok with sharing it. I think it does help keep me honest. It's much easier to lie to myself than other people.
  • Yoshirio
    Yoshirio Posts: 242 Member
    Mine is closed.I see no reason to keep it open,unless I was asking a question related to it.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Mine is open. I figure part of the benefit of MFP is it is a community of people who can help to keep you on track and accountable but they cannot do that if you aren't open.

    I encourage anyone who wants to to look at my diary and critique it or give me ideas on how I might improve, I find it empowering.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    Open to friends, yes
  • tefleon
    tefleon Posts: 32 Member
    It started locked then I thought the worst someone can do is look and send me a message to either offer advice or laugh at how boring it is.
  • KaelaLee88
    KaelaLee88 Posts: 229 Member
    I leave my diary closed because it's private information and I don't (at this time) feel the need to share it.

    I can see why many people do keep their diaries open, especially if they are struggling to lose weight or are gaining unnecessarily so that they can get support :)

    Kaela x
  • Debssssssssss
    Debssssssssss Posts: 84 Member
    Mines open to friends :-)
  • agrafina
    agrafina Posts: 128 Member
    My diary is public. I saw it as part of changing my relationship with food I was a horrendous secret eater. I hid it from everyone, including my husband. Food and secrecy and shame were all very tightly linked with depression for me. When I decided to start blogging about losing weight, I decided that I should be honest. In part accountability to others, in part, accountability to myself. It hasn't stopped me from having some horrendous days, but I log them now. I don't pretend they didn't happen. I don't secret eat any more.

    Transparency is a big part of coming to terms with my own behavior. While the body keeps a record of what you (over)eat, it wasn't enough for me. I needed more. I spent most of my 20s and early 30s very depressed, and hiding from the world. Having a public diary is freeing, in that pretty soon you realize that no one really cares. Being visible isn't so bad. And what if somebody does make a comment? Well, either they have a god point or they are being obnoxious. If it's the former, great! Maybe what they have to say is helpful. If it is the latter? **** them. I've spent too much of my life terrified of being judged and found wanting. I'm tired of it, and I'm not going to live like that anymore.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Mine's open.

    I'm not sure under what circumstances I would keep it private.

    The whole idea seems odd to me - why be ashamed of what you're eating?
  • p4ulmiller
    p4ulmiller Posts: 588 Member
    Mine is open.

    I don't think I'm that special that anyone would want to pore over the details of what I have eaten every day.
  • civilizedworm
    civilizedworm Posts: 796 Member
    Mine is open to friends... we usually comment on each other choices. (Positive) jealous is usually to be had. Builds rapport !
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
    I have my open. I don't care what people think about my food choices.
  • GeordieGirl80s
    GeordieGirl80s Posts: 120 Member
    Mine is open to anyone. If someone asks for advice on their diet in general or ideas for how to hit their macros it helps for people to be able to look at that person food diary and see what their goals are, what they eat on a regular basis etc.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Mine is closed but only because when I start this journey at 560 lbs. I kept hand written journals and to this day still prefer putting pen to paper so I don't use the diary option here.... I will use the database and plug recipe in to get info but prefer writing out my daily logs.... :smile:
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    Leave notes to yourself? Weirdo.

    I leave notes to others.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Open. Never had anyone comment but I also do not use the complete button and disabled the MFP announcement in my settings (just in case I decide to fool around with the button). When I first started I was curious about logging in general and also food ideas. Not seeing too many open diaries meant I had to go to the forums. I have since learned a TON so it's worked out great

    Every so often I read a really cool post about a meal and then go to check the person's diary for it. It's actually quite disappointing when I find it's closed
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    Yes!
  • crystald911
    crystald911 Posts: 46 Member
    Mine is open to all! I love looking at other people's diaries for inspiration for new food ideas. Sorry though, you won't get any inspiration from mine, not creative and can't cook a bit! :smile:
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
    Mine's always open. I don't have anything to hide and if it can help others so much the better.
  • LifeWithPie
    LifeWithPie Posts: 552 Member
    Mine's open.

    I'm not sure under what circumstances I would keep it private.

    The whole idea seems odd to me - why be ashamed of what you're eating?

    Just because someone keeps their diary private doesn't mean they're ashamed. LOL
    I just don't feel it's necessary to publish to strangers on the internet what I eat throughout the day.
    I use this site primarily to log calories. First and foremost. For ME, not you or anyone else.
    The forums and interacting with people here is secondary.
  • Alehmer
    Alehmer Posts: 433 Member
    Mine is public. I'm not shy about anything that I eat. Every once in a while a cheat a bit, but I'm alright with that and nobody give me guff either.
  • nsala86
    nsala86 Posts: 34 Member
    Mine is open to friends and I really appreciate when friends leave theirs open. I think thats kind of an important part of the process...being able to see each other's food and progress. We can also learn from each other that way, swap ideas, see what's working and what isn't. But to each their own!
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,035 Member
    I used to not log properly because I was self conscious about what other people would see/say/think (While I try to incorporate healthy foods, I don't "eat clean" by any means...) so when I first started here I had it locked, because that really kept me best accountable to myself.

    Recently I've had a problem with actually logging stuff, and since I no longer care about what people think of the foods I eat, though do care that I'm not getting my lazy self to log my foods and would be embarrassed if someone were to go through my diary and see pages of blank, I opened my diary.

    And it's working for me. If I were to start lying in my diary again because I cared about what others saw... I would either delete the person making me self conscious or lock it again :) Both would work! lol
  • kids183
    kids183 Posts: 204 Member
    I do not have my diary open. I practice a low carb lifestyle and there are too many critics who seem to have an issue with that.

    But I do applaud anyone that leaves their diaries open for all to view. I wish I had thicker skin to people's views and remarks!
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,035 Member
    Mine's open.

    I'm not sure under what circumstances I would keep it private.

    The whole idea seems odd to me - why be ashamed of what you're eating?

    Shame from what you're eating comes when people on your friends list make comments on your foods- whether asked for or not. While I'll admit that the advice given to me always came from good intentions, at that time, when I was still learning the ropes and what worked for me, it still made me uncomfortable.

    And it's even worse for people who follow specific diet plans- I've had people post that they're locking their diary's due to people giving grief over things like intermittent fasting, being vegan, eating meat (yea, both... apparently people who are "mostly vegan" but sometimes indulge are the biggest offenders) or for just following anything but a "clean" plan.

    Sometimes, you want the friend, but not the opinions... and having your diary closed is a way to do your thing while still "hanging out" with them.

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